Last week, I got an email with the subject line, “A note from a VERY busy man.”
“Oh God,” I thought.
Before I clicked to open the email, I saw that the very busy man’s name is Tom O’Donnell. I looked Tom up.
It turns out he is a business consultant, a specialist in negotiation, a polyglot (Serbo-Croatian, Vietnamese, Turkish), and a former event manager involved in “producing events for people such as the Queen of Norway, the Princess of Sweden, Arthur Miller, the Dalai Lama, three Presidents of the United States, four Vice Presidents and others.”
“All right,” I said. “So maybe Tom really is VERY busy. Then why is he writing to me?”
Here’s Tom’s note:
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It is possible that you do not actually know me although I am a subscriber to your newsletter. I am a VERY busy man who is frequently too busy to slow WAY down and listen to outside ideas and take counsel from others (to my regret) but one exception I have made is to purchase every thing you offer and I have sat here today and realized how valuable all of it is to me (I can’t speak for others.).
I had been trying to learn copywriting as a way to increase my ability to sell and influence others so I had discovered your riddles course and enjoyed it, then the daily newsletter, then the MVE, then the postcards, and today I purchased the Amazon book and subscribed to the bookclub and I have been sitting here in Minnesota, USA as you sit and work in Spain and I wanted to thank you for the work and effort.
Your material and the people you recommend (like Ben Settle) are becoming my approach to how I conduct my life. I am 76 years old and have had some fine coaches and models but discovering you was truly mind-changing. Please keep it up. As you once wrote about Ben Settle (let me paraphrase) “Ben Settle is an acquired taste.” In you, I have discovered what I need. Thanks and PLEASE keep it up.
Tom ODonnell
p.s. Use this any way you choose.
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I am choosing to use Tom’s very flattering note by featuring it in this email, with gratitude.
But you might wonder whether there’s any point you can possibly take from this email besides the fact that I am a swell guy, at least according to Tom.
There is a point you can take away. In fact, this email is a illustration of an important technique I had spotted last year, and started practicing since.
This technique I believe is very valuable — perhaps VERY valuable. From what I see, it’s also very underused.
In case you are interested, you can see this technique explained and described below in an email I wrote last year.
By the way, I often cringe when I read my old emails, but this particular one happens to be a favorite. In case that’s got you curious: